Stripper finger for bale tyer



Jan. 14, 1964 P. MAY ETAL 3,117,512

STRIPPER FINGER FOR BALE TYER Filed Aug. 7, 1962 2 Sheets-Sheet l INVENTORS. PATRICK L. MAY ROBERT L. MOORE um-M ATTY.

Jan. 14, 1964 Filed Aug. 7, 1962 P. L- MAY ETAL STRIPPER FINGER FOR BALE TYER 2 Sheets-Sheet 2 INVENTORS. PA TRICK L. MA Y ROBERT L. MOORE ATTY.

United States Patent 3,117,512 STRIIIER FINGER FOR BALE TYER Fatrick I. May and Robert L. Moore, Memphis, Tenn.,

assignors to International Harvester Company, Chicage, EL, a corporation of New Jersey Filed Aug. 7, 1962, Ser. No. 215,330 3 Claims. (Cl. 100-31) The present invention is directed to an agricultural apparatus for use on hay balers, and more particularly to a novel apparatus which effects a more secure mounting and guiding of the stripper finger and substantially obviates the clogging of this mechanism by trash during operation of the baler.

In the operation of either twine or wire tie balers, the knotting or tying cycle is completed during a very short period of time. Thus large forces and torques are applied to efiect the requisite movements of the various compon nts through their respective predetermined paths during each tying cycle. Accordingly, unless a retaining means is utilized which both supports and guides the moving parts there is a possibility of uneven wear of a part, with consequent jamming or sutficiently inexact movement of the part to cause faulty operation of the wire twister.

In addition to lack of rigidity, another drawback of prior art stripper plates frequently has been an aperture in the base plate or stripper finger through which a guid ing means, such as a bolt, is passed to guide the plate in its cyclical movement during each tying cycle. When a bolt or a similar guiding means of relatively small lateral extent is utilized, an arcuate slot is provided in the stripper finger to receive the guiding means and thus effect the requisite guiding of the stripper finger. However, frequently dirt and trash is passed through the guide slot and becomes wedged between the underside of the stripper plate and one or both of the supporting pillars wh ch extend upwardly from the base plate or breast plate to provide for mounting of the stripper finger.

It is, therefore, a primary object of the present invention to provide a stripper finger assembly having guide means of substantial linear extent affixed thereto, for cooperation with an anchor means of complementary Shape affixed to the base plate for both supporting and guiding the stripper finger during each cyclical movement the eoi.

Another important object of the invention is the provi sion of such an assembly in which the stripper finger obviates the entrance of trash and light dirt which might jam the mechanism during a tying cycle.

The foregoing and other objects are realized, in one embodiment of the invention, by providing a stripper finger assembly which includes a stripper finger as the uppermost (looking downwardly on the assembly) element, and making this stripper finger continuous (i.e., having no apertures or slots) to thereby obviate the entrance of dirt or trash which could clog the mechanism. A pivotal mounting means passes through a corner portion of the stripper finger to provide for arcuate displace ment of the stripper finger about that corner during each tying or twisting operation. Beneath the stripper finger a guide plate means is affixed, and the guide plate is spaced from the stripper finger by a preassigned distance. An anchor or retaining means, having a thickness dimension slightly less than the preassigned distance, is aflixed to the base plate, or the roast plate, at the top of the bale forming chamber. The anchor is positioned so that a peripheral portion of the anchor extends into the clearance space defined between the guide plate and the stripper finger. Inasmuch as both the anchor means and the guide plate have edge portions of appreciable extent in the area where the guiding and support is provided,

a strong support and guiding arrangement for the stripper finger is thus realized.

The best mode contemplated for carrying out the invention will now be described. To enable those skilled in the art to make and use the invention, such description is set forth in connection with the accompanying drawings, in the several figures of which like reference numerals identify like elements, and in which:

FIGURE 1 is a side view, partly in section, of an embodiment of the invention and the adjacent portions of a baler;

FIGURE 2 is a top view, partly broken away and taken on a scale enlarged relative to that of F GURE 1;

FIGURE 3 is a side view of the structure depicted in FIGURE 2; and

FIGURE 4 is a partial side View, taken on an enlarged scale, of a portion of the structure depicted in FIGURE 3.

Structure of the Invention To assist in orienting the reader with respect to the physical location of the present invention within a baling apparatus, FIGURE 1 depicts a hay bale 35 being moved through a baling channel 36 in the direction indicated by arrow 37. Those skilled in the art are familiar with the process by which a number of strokes of the plunger 38 efiects a compression of the hay or crop material fed into the channel to form a halo of rectangular outline. Over the baling chamber is a transverse shaft 39, on which both a driving gear 4t and a casting 41 are supported. Casting 41 in turn supports both wire holder assembly 42 and the assembly from which wire twister 28 depends. Adjacent twister 28 a pair of pillars 15 and 16 extend upwardly from the breast plate of the baleforming chamber, and stripper finger assembly 10 of the present invention is supported above pillars 15 and 16.

Also shown in FIGURE 1 is a wire supply container 43 in which a coil of wire (not shown) is stored to emerge as a single strand 44 for guidance through one of the baler needles 45 up to the wire holding assembly 42. In the lower portion of FIGURE 1, needle 45 is shown in broken lines in its initial or lowermost position and just after it has started to move through an arcuate path to bring the wire strand 44 up to the twisting mechanism. Over the channel 36 needle 45 is indicated in solid outline, in its extreme uppermost position during the wire twisting cycle. With this background for the structure of the invention with respect to its physical placement in a conventional baling arrangement, a more detailed description of the invention will now be set forth.

As shown in FIGURE 2, stripper finger assembly 11) includes a stripper finger 11 to which an arcuate shroud 12 is afiixed. An extension 13 of the shroud 12 is provided to displace the wire from the twister in a well-known manner. The atfixing of the shroud 12 to stripper finger 11 can be done by welding or other conventional methods. As better seen in FIGURE 3, the portion of stripper finger 1]. remote from shroud 12 is pivotally attached, as by a bolt 14 which extends through stripper finger 11 and is received in a correspondingly tapped portion of support pillar 15. Each of pillars 15 and 16 are upstanding columns or portions of the base plate of the complete wire tying assembly. This base plate, or breast plate, is in effect the top portion of the bale-forming chamber, and may be of the form of base plate 117 depicted in the drawings of Patent No. 2,897,747, entitled Wire Twister for Balers, issued to Patrick L. May on August 4, 1959, and assigned to the assignee of this invention.

In FIGURE 2, stripper finger 11 is broken away to better illustrate a salient feature of the inventive construction. As there shown, an anchor or retaining means 17 is afiixed to the top of mounting column 16. In the 3 illustrated embodiment anchor 17 is apertured in two places and countersunk, thus to receive the heads of the pair or" mounting screws 18 which pass through anchor 17 and are secured in correspondingly tapped portions of mounting pillar 16. The countersunk arrangement provides a smooth surface atop anchor 17 so that as stripper finger Ill is displaced back and forth across the top of retaining means 17 during each tying cycle, there is only a minimum frictional resistance offered to such movement.

A guide plate 20 is provided, being generally ovalshaped with the extremities of the oval being cut off. A peripheral portion of plate 29, which portion is of considerable length, extends beneath the adjacent periphery of anchor 17. Proper vertical spacing of guide plate 2% with respect to stripper finger ill is attained with a pair of spacers or washers 21, one of which (as illustrated in FIG- URE 3) is secured by a fastening assembly including a bolt 22, a lock washer 23 and a nut 24. Another fastening assembly, comprising bolt assembly 25, lock Washer 26, and nut 27, is provided as indicated to secure the other end of guide plate 20 at the proper distance beneath stripper finger 11 so that anchor 17 extends into the clearance space defined between guide plate 2t) and stripper finger ll, with just suificient clearance so that there is minimum friction developed as the stripper finger assemly, including stripper finger 11 and guide 2% is displaced arcuately about bolt 14. At the same time the spacing is such that there is no play or wobble of the stripper finger assembly 1% inasmuch as there is a supporting force provided along a substantial length of one side of anchor 17 as the guide plate 20 moves back and forth with respect thereto. It is this back-and-forth movement which effects a like displacement of shroud l2 and its extension 13 to push the wire oil the wire twister 28 at the proper moment in the wire-twisting cycle.

This guide and support arrangement is also illustrated in FIGURE 4, which indicates the close fit between the several components to afiord good support while at the same time providing only a minimum frictional force during the movement of the components in the twisting cycle.

Operation of the Invention In each twisting cycle, stripper finger assembly It) is pivotally displaced, first in one direction and then in the other, about a pivot axis substantially coinciding with the center of bolt 14 so that the opposite end of the stripper finger assembly 1% is displaced as indicated by doubleheaded arrow 36. Responsive to such displacement, extension 13 of shroud l2 engages and displaces the wire from twister 23. During such cyclical displacement, the position of stripper finger i1 is firmly maintained by reason of the engagement of guide plate 20 for a substantial distance along and beneath anchor or retaining means 1'7.

By providing the improved structure of the invention, there has been a marked increase of the durability and the reliability of the stripper finger assembly. There is less wear of the assembly than has been obtained with prior art devices using only a bolt and slot guide arrangement. Moreover, by providing a continuous stripper finger with no apertures or slots therein, the invention obviates the entry of dirt, chaff, or trash which might clog or foul the wire-twisting and wire-stripping mechanism. Such advantages emphasize the manifest superiority of the struc- 4 ture of the invention as contrasted to previous wire-stripping arrangements.

While only a particular embodiment of the invention has been described and illustrated, it is evident that modifications and alterations may be made therein. It is accordingly the intention in the appended claims to cover all such modifications and alterations as may fall within the true spirit and scope of the invention.

What is claimed is:

1. A supporting and guiding arrangement for a stripper finger assembly in a hay baler, comprising:

a breast plate,

a continuous stripper finger having pivotal means at one extremity thereof.

guide means affixed to said finger and spaced at a predetermined distance from said finger,

and retaining means, supported from the breast plate,

in the space between the finger and the guide means, thereby providing both indexing and support of the stripper finger during each cyclical tying movement. 2. For use in the wire twisting assembly of a hay baler having a breast plate including a pair of upstanding columns for supporting components of the wire tying assembly, the improvement which comprises:

a continuous stripper finger plate, having a first portion pivotally secured to one of said columns;

oval-shaped guide means, alfixed to said stripper fin er, said guide means having a guide surface spaced from said stripper finger by a preassigned distance, said guide means having an extended longitudinal dimension;

and anchor means, atfixed to the other of said columns,

also having an extended longitudinal dimension, and positioned with the extended longitudinal portion thereof guided in the space between said stripper finger and said guide means, thereby providing both support for and guiding of said stripper finger during each cyclical movement of the wire-twisting as-' sembly.

3. Means for both holding down and guiding the stripper finger of a hay baler during each cyclical operation of the wire-twisting arrangement, comprising:

a breast plate including a first and a second support pillar;

a. stripper finger, having a corner portion thereof secured by pivotal connection means affixed to said first pillar to provide for pivotal movement of said stripper finger about said connection means during each cyclical movement of the wire-twisting arrangement;

an oval stripper finger guide plate, aflixed to said stripper finger at a preassigned distance therefrom to define a clearance space, said guide plate having a longitudinal dimension of substantial extent;

and retaining means, affixed to said second pillar, having an edge portion of extended length guided in said clearance space, thereby to provide support along said edge portion during each cyclical movement of the stripper finger in addition to guiding of the stripper finger during each cyclical movement.

References Cited in the file of this patent UNITED STATES PATENTS 

1. A SUPPORTING AND GUIDING ARRANGEMENT FOR A STRIPPER FINGER ASSEMBLY IN A HAY BALER, COMPRISING: A BREAST PLATE, A CONTINUOUS STRIPPER FINGER HAVING PIVOTAL MEANS AT ONE EXTREMITY THEREOF. GUIDE MEANS AFFIXED TO SAID FINGER AND SPACED AT A PREDETERMINED DISTANCE FROM SAID FINGER, AND RETAINING MEANS, SUPPORTED FROM THE BREAST PLATE, IN THE SPACE BETWEEN THE FINGER AND THE GUIDE MEANS, THEREBY PROVIDING BOTH INDEXING AND SUPPORT OF THE STRIPPER FINGER DURING EACH CYCLICAL TYING MOVEMENT. 